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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Tangled: I need your 2 cents!

I rarely pre-wash my fabric. EXCEPT for when I'm making something (non-quilt) that will be washed ALOT, often, and all the time. Like hand towels, and pot holders, grocery bags and drool bibs, etc. I'll be making the above items in bulk for an upcoming craft show so I proceeded to throw half a dozen cuts of fabric into the laundry.
And it came out in a single ball, and tangled to boot.
HELP!

Is there really a way to prevent all the strings from coming loose from the fabrics in the first place?
I've tried pinking each corner by 1/2" - didn't work.
Wash each one separately? Too time consuming and wasteful (water, energy etc.)

After 30 minutes of careful scissor work I untangled the mess and had enough loose strings to weave a whole other FQ of fabric. Help! I'm open to ANY suggestions on how to prevent this from happening later this week when I wash another load of fabrics.

Maybe I'll just start washing ALL fabrics when they enter my house so they're ready to go no matter what project I'm working on... naaaah - thats never going to happen! haha

I've noticed that the fabrics that fray are the ones that were badly cut, so I try to square up and trim off the fabric that will likely fray. I also have tried the corner clipping and that seems to work when it's not a selvedge to selvedge cut.

I agree with Kati - I serge the edges of any fabric that is likely to fray. If you don't have a serger, zig-zag stitch works just as well. It doesn't take long to zip those fabrics through the machine and is worth it to not end up with a pile of half damp crumpled fabric that needs to be snipped apart!

I'm impressed you managed to un-tangle it :) Most times I just rinse the new fabric in water to ensure it doesn't run. But if I am using the mashine I wash it in a pillowcase - or duvet cover for bigger items like batting.

When I prewash I pink the cut edges all of the way across. I still get a few strings but they are much less than I used to get when I didn't pink the edges. I only prewash fabric if I'm using it in a garment -- I don't want to risk having it shrink unevenly and then end up wonky or weird (and unwearable.)

I do pre wash everything, even charm packs and layer cakes ( sizing sensitivity). I use the gentle cycle and don't seem to have as much tangled fabric as when i used the regular cycle. pinking the corners never worked for me either. I have heard tearing the edges helps but I can't bring my self to do it. Serging sounds like a good idea.

I, too, would recommend the lingerie bag approach. Also, washing on extra gentle cycle could help (less agitation the better!) If you wanted to forgo the machine entirely, just soak the whole pile in a laundry tub or bucket, gently squeeze the fabric (never wring) and rinse thoroughly. Hope this helps!

i have heard that pinking the edges, not just the corners, helps. another option is to zig zag the edges before you wash. i have never tried either of these, but it is what i have heard that helps.

since i am lazy, i just throw them in the wash and then as i am transferring the cuts to the dryer i ensure they are all detangled and the loose threads are snipped off. with this way, instead of having one giant ball of knots after drying, there are two much more manageable detangling sessions. i think overall there is less fabric (and time) waste. good luck!

This is exactly why I do not prewash... it always turns out a mess for me too! I had luck once with pinking all the edges, but I was trying to cut very close to the edge so I didn't waste any fabric, and that was a pain to do. I have cheapo pinking shears too, which I'm sure didn't help ;) I read through all these suggestions though... so let us know what you do, and how it turns out! Maybe if you have good results I'll have the nerve to try it again myself :)

Like a couple of others mentioned when I need to prewash I use lingerie bags. That way I just put the smaller pieces in the bags and leave the larger pieces out. And when I throw it in the dryer I try and cut the strings then. Hope this helps. :)

I didn't read all 23 previous comments, so someone may have mentioned this, but I put mine in a pillow case.

I use a cheap pillow case, not a high thread count good quality cotton pillow case, the $1.99 variety works just fine. If you have colors that might bleed, toss a color catcher or two into the bag with the fabric.

My method is the laziest one of all but it actually works really well.

I wash my fabric in a load of normal wash (with like... dirty clothes). No tangled ball, no more. If I have to wash a lot of fabric I put in less clothes but I try to make sure there is at least a pair of jeans or something heavy in there.

I never prewash, since most fabrics now are really colorsafe. I do, however, toss a Shout Color Catcher or three into the washer with my finished project. Never had any problems with color running when I use one of those.